Sunday, November 16, 2014

But it dawned on me this weekend that we normally spend most of our reflections thinking about the superstar servant that delivered 10 talents back to his master, and the poor sap that only returned the one he was given.

We never talk about the middle servant.

But he teaches us an important lesson about God.

The middle servant only delivers his master 2 talents, versus 5 for his counterpart. On a value basis, that is much less.

But on a percentage basis it is exactly the same 100% return! And if you notice, the master gives the exact same praise to him as he does the servant that returns 5 talents. The master did not give them all the same amount of talents (money) just as God does not give us all the same amount of talent (ability, skills, strengths, etc). But just like the master in the parable, God does not expect us to return the same total value to Him. He does, however, expect us to deliver the most that we can based on what we were given.

As a society, however, we tend to gauge how we are doing by comparing ourselves to others. Are we going to church more than others? Do we do more volunteer work than others? Have we given as much as others?But the middle servant reminds us that we should instead be determining if we are giving God a 100% return on what He has given us.God Bless you.

The article quotes a scientist who said "Change is always a generation away. So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in our generation... And that is what I think we have an obligation to do."I must admit, I cringed when I read the word "obligation". What a horrible thought. But that was not the part that scared me, especially after the article mentions that countries have tried in the past to eradicate religion ... only to watch it come back stronger. The part that scared me most was the statistic that 25 years ago, only 5 percent of the U.S. population identified themselves as non-religious. Today, that number is up to 20 percent. However, if you isolate people between the ages of 18-25, that number jumps to 30 percent.Thirty percent.

That number isn't because someone mandated an end to religion. It is not because someone felt an obligation.